Chicken Tractor, first build, suggestions

[Kris5902]

I’ve just mostly finished my first chicken tractor build it’s 6x12’ with a 3x6’ roosting area. Looking for suggestions for my next one. 3/4” hardware cloth on the run, it will be roofed with a tarp over the run portion, solid roofing (metal or plywood) on the roost box. 1” hardware cloth under the roosts.

Siding is cedar, but it’s been sitting outside for a year aging and doesn’t have a strong odor (way less than the shavings in the brooder!) I’m going to retrofit nesting boxes and a door on the side left open for the pics. I have 13 chickens for it, and I’ll be moving it very often.

 

[Kris5902]

 

[Kris5902]

 

[Kris5902]

 

[Kris5902]

 

[Kris5902]

Any comments or feedback? Anyone?

 

[123RedBeard]

I'm not that familiar with either 3/4" & 1" hardware cloth ... what gauge wire is used?

Looks pretty good ... for chickens ... but not gonna hold many sheep!

I'm not sure how much rain you get ... while it looks like a pretty steep pitched roof, I'd be inclined to have more support for the tarp, as it can sag in between the rafters, then could collect where they meet the wall, and either collapae, or drench your chickens, or ... both.

I'd also extend the rafters another foot or so off the sides, to keep the rain out, but also provide more shade.

Is this for your meaties?

How do you plan on moving it?

 

[aart]

Would ask the same Q's that @123RedBeard did.

Chuckling at the sheep!!
Reminds me of my poodle testing the goat/sheep trimming stand.

 

[Kris5902]

Thanks for the input!

It has wheels under the roosting box, and actually moves fairly easily. The hardware cloth is 19 guage wire, mostly for keeping the chickens in, but also to make raccoons, mink, and hawks think twice. The indoor sleeping arrangement is the primary predator protection. I put the roosts up high enough (I think) to stop any little paws from grabbing legs at night through the larger 1” holes.

I plan on using it mostly for selective breeding. My meat birds will probably get less permanent accommodations, which I’ll start working on soon.

Good call on the rain situation, we get torrential downpours here and I hadn’t thought of the sagging and pooling problems! Husband and I debated the extending the rafters thing for a good half hour and thought the extra securement along the top plate might work better for winds.

Looks like we’re going to be picking up more 1x2’s. I can add in 4 more ribs and extend them out and once I have the tarp up I can figure the length out more easily we hadn’t gotten a tarp for it yet when we put the rafters up.

I’m hoping to put 13-15 chicken in it. I might move to trying a free ranging situation for my flock once I get better established and maybe get a dog. But for now this will get everyone out on the grass, once I make 4/5 more.

Chicken Math! I could put another four dozen eggs in the incubator for less $ than my last bunch of chicks! I only have 3 potential blue layers and 7 soon to be blue-non-egg-laying dinners, well in 6months to a year they will be... but NO! Not until I have more housing built out! No more eggs or chicks until there are better accommodations for brooding and outdoor housing is built for them. In retrospect I’m actually lucky my first hatch wasn’t very good... if I needed to house 40 new chickens instead of just 13...

 

[aart]

It has wheels under the roosting box, and actually moves fairly easily.

Have you moved it over the ground you propose to use it on?
Mine rolled great on the garage floor and gravel driveway...
...was a whole other story on the bumpy long grassed pasture it eventually was used on.
Tho yours is much lighter than mine.
Any thoughts on preventing digging preds?